Picketing at church

Last Edited By Krjb Donovan
Last Updated: Mar 11, 2014 07:35 PM GMT

QuestionEdit

Thanks for answering my question regarding picketing at church. I am still not sure if it's legally safe to demonstrate against a church on its property by members of that church. Would you please clarify? Thanks.


AnswerEdit

Safe? Meaning that the church and its members may assault you, or are you talking about being arrested? Like i told you before, the 1st amendment only protects against government intrusions into speech. It doesn't allow me to walk into someone's living room or stand on someone's lawn and shout my proclamations. So, if you are on church property, the 1st amendment won't protect you and you could be asked to leave or arrested for trespass. So keep it on the public sidewalks and you'll be fine.

QuestionEdit

A group of us are picketing (township permitted obtained) on the church property against corruption and evil doings of our pastor. Are we summarily protected by the first amendment or are there exceptions? What do we need to do to protect us from potential legal actions by the church?

AnswerEdit

SO you've decided to take a stand against the machinations of the church and your evil doing pastor, hear hear! Anyway, it all depends on whether the property you are standing on during your demonstrations is church owned or town owned. If you are on a town sidewalk (public property), you don't have to worry about any actions by the church. The state cannot interfere against your protest other than to regulate the time,place and manner of your protest. So long as you don't enter into private property you are protected by the First Amendment. Good Luck

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